Make design work better
Glaringly Obvious is my weekly email for product and design leaders who are tired of vague advice, slow decisions, and ideas that die in meetings.
Once a week, I share how to use design, experiments, and UX metrics to make clear progress.
What you get each week
Each email is short, practical, and focused on things you can use in the next week, not someday.
You will usually get:
- One real story from a leader wrestling with clarity, proof, or momentum
- One simple experiment you can run with your product, site, or marketing
- One useful metric or signal that helps you see if users really “get it”
- One question to ask your team that cuts through the noise in meetings
No growth hacks. No recycled listicles. Just clear ways to make design work better.
Who this is for
This will feel useful if you are:
- A product or design leader who needs to show impact, not just output
- A founder who wants clearer signals before big decisions
- A senior IC who wants to influence without a fancy title
- A team that keeps stalling because nobody agrees on what “good” looks like
If momentum keeps dying in meetings or your ideas sit in decks instead of in front of users, this newsletter is for you.
What I write about
Topics will rotate, but they sit on a few core themes:
- Design as a decision engine How to move from opinions to design signals and make faster, safer calls.
- Experiments that fit into real workConcept tests, flow checks, and quick studies that do not slow teams down.
- UX metrics that humans can understandSimple ways to track clarity, trust, comprehension, and value.
- AI as a pressure multiplier for designWhere it helps, where it hurts, and how to keep quality in the middle of speed.
- Leading through ambiguityHow to set clear results, support your team, and avoid endless loops.
Some issues will be frameworks. Others will break down a single test, slide, or flow. All of them help you move something forward.
Why listen to me
Since 1998 I have run ZURB, a product design company that helps teams turn ideas into products people actually use. I built Helio, a UX metrics platform for fast design signals, and created the Glare framework to help teams replace guesswork with real evidence.
Over the years I have worked with more than 2,500 teams across companies like Facebook, Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Yahoo, Intuit, and many others. I have spoken at places like Stanford Graduate School of Business, Google, LinkedIn, and Netflix.
Most of what I share comes directly from that work. Things that actually held up in the real world, not just in slides.
How often you will hear from me
You will get one email a week.
No daily spam. No long funnels. Some weeks there will be a quiet story about a small change that made a big difference. Other weeks will be more direct and tactical.
Once in a while, I will share ways to work with me through Helio, Glare, or advisory sessions. Most emails will be pure teaching.
If you want design that moves, learns, and proves its value, join the list.
You can unsubscribe in one click if it ever stops being useful.